Sunday, September 02, 2012

Saudi Arabia's Feminist Cinema

"In Haifa Al Mansour’s landmark film ‘Wadjda’, ten-year-old Waad Mohammad
plays a girl who is also testing the boundaries of a woman’s place in a
highly conservative society where her love for Western music and
fashions land her in trouble.

"Mohammad’s impish personality and resilience in the face of adversity
add to the poignancy of the story and left some of the film’s first
viewers in tears...

"Haifa said she was forced to direct what is her first feature film from a
van with a walkie-talkie in some of the neighbourhoods where she could
not be seen in public together with male crew and cast members. In some
areas, screaming local residents would block shooting altogether...

"Haifa grew up in a small Saudi town as one of 12 siblings and she said
her parents were always very supportive of her career even though they
came under pressure from relatives who said filmmaking was 'not
honourable.'

"For all the implicit criticism of the state of women’s rights in Saudi
in the film, Haifa said things are gradually changing and having a Saudi
prince on board showed that officialdom was supportive of this shift."

The article doesn't say, but the prince in question might be al-Walid bin Talal, who owns a film studio. On that note, too, I actually think that there are previous Saudi-produced films, as mentioned on this wikipedia page.

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About Me

I am an Associate Professor in History at Shippensburg University, where I teach courses in Middle Eastern and world history. My two major research areas are the Middle East from the 7th through 10th centuries and the Persian Gulf from ancient times to the present. Nothing on this site represents an official position of Shippensburg University.